The Alternate Life
by PirateGirlAuthor
Summary: Bruno and Shmuel didn't die? What if they dodged the crowd of men heading to the gas chamber? Would Bruno return to his family and go live with his Aunt?Will he and Shmuel escape and live a life of being homeless? Plz review!Better than it sounds! Thanx!
1. Chapter 1

**I made this for a project at school, but as I checked through this short story, I realized that about 60 different people have looked at it! And several reviews! So, I decided to keep this up. The next chapter is up. Just a reminder, that this _is_ my story, and its a fanfic so I can do as I please with it. But if you have KIND suggestions (meaning you put it in a kind way) they are completely welcome! :D Enjoy if you want, or only make it seem worse, its your choice.**

"Why don't we go check in the cabin?" Shmuel asked.

"He might be around here somewhere. We've got to find him!" Bruno and Shmuel ran to the back side of the cabin, just as the men being rushed out of the cabin were heading toward the gas chambers. Shmuel looked back. He recieved a strange feeling, as if an eerie and suspicious voice called to him. He paused, staring at the forceful Nazis pointing guns at their backs and shooing them into the deadly room, like a shephard herding sheep.

"Shmuel?" Bruno asked, trying to get his attention. He waved his arms. "Shmuel!!" Shmuel finally looked back at Bruno, then at the gas chamber's door closing. His expression became serious.

"Daddy?" He asked to himself. He ran over to the gas chamber. He threw his body to the door. He pounded for his life. "Daddy!!!"

"Shmuel!" Bruno shouted, walking over to Shmuel as he fell to his knees, still pounding but not as hard. "Shmuel?" Shmuel did not answer. He silently cried.

"Did you find im', Shmuel? Did ya?" Bruno asked softly. Shmuel took in a breath, revealing that he was crying.

"Yes...but he went in there. No one ever gets out..." Shmuel could not continue on with his sentence, but that was all Bruno needed to know to understand what happened to Shmuel's father.

"He's gotta! Just gotta!"

"You Jews over there! Get back to work. You should know what happens when you-"

"Back away. He is my son."

Bruno's father pushed past the Nazi, also interrupting him. He laid a large hand on Bruno's small shoulder. "Now why are you wearing those clothes? Your mother was very worried. This is no place for you. And as for you, do not harm my son or you will be thrown in here, too." He ordered Shmuel, pointing at the gas chamber.

"Fine. What about that Jew?" He said, saluting Bruno's father. He nodded in response. Bruno's father glanced at Bruno, awaiting his reaction.

"He is my friend." Bruno said, proudly. His father was shocked.

"Um, the same goes for...him, too." Bruno's father said, unsure about his son's decision. The Nazi walked away inspecting all of the other workers. Bruno and his father looked each other straight for a few seconds. Bruno then looked at Shmuel, his father following his gaze. Shmuel was fiddling with his long sleeves.

"Can he stay with us?"

"Bruno, you are still going to your aunt's." Bruno's father said, trying to lure his son away from the...the prisoner.

"Shmuel has to come. I won't go without him." Bruno's father looked at Shmuel, then quickly back to Bruno.

"We must discuss this with your mother." He had his intentions set. They would not end up talking to Bruno's mother about this. Bruno followed his father. When Shmuel realized they were leaving, he followed, too.

"Stay." His father said, as if he were a dog disobeying his owner, standing in Shmuel's path. Shmuel was silent, frightened to speak a wrong word, but looked at Bruno. Bruno just walked by his father's side. Bruno motioned for Shmuel to follow him. Shmuel tip-toed behind Bruno and his dad, keeping a distance to not alert his father.

**Well? Did you like it? If so, please review. If not, you can still review, but please state why you did not like it. It will help to make alterations. Thank you!**


	2. Chapter 2

**In the first chapter, many reviewed that the father might've reacted differently. The father was in so much shock and he wouldn't really explode there in that kind of scene. The father (in my Fanfic story) yelled at Bruno and was very disappointed in him, etc. when they got home in his office. If you really think about it, it would've probably gone the way it went in my story.**

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**Anything I post here in bold means it is not part of the story, but is important. I just wanted to let you know that I appreciate the reviews that I have recieved. This is what you were waiting for: The next chapter! This chapter takes place after Bruno escapes from his father once they arrive home. Shmuel and Bruno run from home and are now in dangerous streets.**

Two small children ran through the mostly bare streets of hell. Old, gloomy buildings hovered over them, if not the gray sky as well.

"Shmuel...I'm tired. And hungry."

"We're almost there. C'mon." The two turned a corner into an alleyway. Suddenly, Shmuel stopped. Ahead of them was only a rotting wooden fence.

"There!" Shmuel pointed to a almost-squarish hole in the side of a building. Its height was about from the boys' feet to their shoulders. Shmuel and Bruno ran into the hole, ducking their heads.

Shmuel was first to enter. When he got inside, it was a small room. There was a small table, big enough for the boys to eat at. There were two wooden cabinets on the floor on the left side, against the wall. But there was something else...or some_one_.

When Bruno came in, he spotted the light blond hair of a girl, maybe their age. She had sea-blue eyes. When he came in, he immediately spotted her bright, long hair in a braid.

"Shmuel?! Is that you??" She asked.,

"Lizabeth, this is Bruno." Bruno saw her smile. She had only two little front teeth and three bottom teeth, then pitch darkness.

"Hello Bruno." Bruno was speechless.

"She is my cousin." Shmuel said.

"Are you hungry? Here's some soup." There were two pale yellow bowls of light-greenish liquid. Bruno sat down, then Shmuel. They dug into it.

"You are really hungry." Lizabeth said. In only a few seconds, the bowls were clean.

"Is there anymore?" Bruno asked.

"Yup. Here ya go." Lizabeth opened a cabinet and set a bowl of the soup in front of Bruno. She looked over at Shmuel's bowl, and took out another bowl out of the open cabinet, this time, inside, it was pitch dark.

"This was my soup. There is no more soup until Luigi gets more." Lizabeth sighed.

"Who is Luigi?" Shmuel asked.

"A man that gave me this home. He makes the soup."

"Does he make any more food?"

"Bread, too. Did you see him?" Lizabeth took the other seat, in between the boys.

"What does he look like?"

"He is the fat guy. He has no hair, too." Lizabeth put both arms out in front of her, turning her hands as if she had a box in between her stomach and arms.

"Nope." Just then, a masculine voice called from outside.

"Liza!!" A man's voice sang. Lizabeth stood from her chair and ran out the hole. Bruno had kept sipping the soup from his bowl and hadn't realized before that his bowl was empty. He set the bowl down, laying his head on the table. Shmuel was still slurping his, looking at Bruno. He then set his dry bowl down and set his head on the table. Both boys were looking at the hole.

"Staring contest?" Shmuel offered.

"Yep." The boys turned and stared at each other.

A minute and a half passed and Lizabeth finally returned. The boys both looked up to her bright toothy smile.

"Luigi's here!" She turned to face the hole, her back completely to the boys. A dark shadow cast what they could see of the outside alley wall. A big fat man with a bald head squeezed through the hole. Surprisingly, he fit, with little room to spare. He had big blue eyes, lighter than Lizabeth's. His eyes looked as if he were blind, though he looked at the boys and smiled just as big of a smile as Lizabeth gave.


End file.
